


waiting for the reprint

by ellabell



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Meet-Cute, Swan Queen Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 03:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3234554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellabell/pseuds/ellabell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma needs that textbook.  Emma <i>really</i> needs that textbook.  Current one-shot for SQW Jan 2015, Day 1: meet-cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	waiting for the reprint

**Author's Note:**

> My very first contribution to a swan queen week. I'm so proud. Un-beta'd. Currently a stand alone but that may change if I get inspired.

It was only a week into her first term, and Emma didn't know how she was going to make it through Christmas, never mind her four-year degree.

They warned her in that halfway house after juvie that this scholarship and bursary program for people like her was underfunded, that as much as they tried to help get young people with real ambition back on the right track, it was going to be hard. She just didn't realize that it was going to be _this_ hard, because as much as her tuition and on-campus housing was paid for, her meals and all additional fees weren't.

She was currently staring – glaring, even – at the current source of her worries, standing in the aisle of the already crowded campus bookstore. The small sign under the single remaining textbook displayed $130, and it might have been triple that for all she could afford it. She had raided the used bookstores and classifieds for all her other books, often getting good deals on the common first year course materials… but this one? This course had just been restructured by the new head of the department, and the textbook was new. The textbook was so new that the bookstore had trouble bringing it in, and the shipment didn't even arrive until this first week of classes. There weren't even any previous editions, and none of the professors had put a copy in the library yet.

But the new head of psychology decided that _this_ was the textbook that was required, and her professor reinforced that it _was_ required, just as the course was to her degree.

Grinding her teeth, Emma glared a little longer at the offending book. Her meager wages at the just-off-campus bar barely gave her enough to eat, and she couldn't count on tips from other students. She had already sold her car – the only thing that she had that actually had value, even if it _had_ once been stolen – just so she could have linens for her bed and clothing to wear to class and a new pair of glasses so that she could actually see the notes given. She was already going to be relying on the open computer labs when most of the other students had laptops. There was nothing left, and her new student credit card (with a very low available balance on purpose) was already almost maxed out.

Maybe if she skipped her Friday afternoon classes she could pick up an extra shift at the bar, and it was still frosh week, right? Maybe people would be more willing to tip then, and so she'd be able to eat through the weekend until her paycheck came? There were already readings assigned and she couldn't afford to get behind so early in the term, not when she was trying to balance her course work and her shifts at the bar and still find time to meet with her parole officer and finish the remainder of her community service that came along with the promise of an expunged record and the bursaries...

She had just made up her mind to buy the damn textbook – she could figure out eating later. It wasn't the first time that she had to deal with hunger pains and an empty stomach, and she didn't need to eat as well anymore – when a hand came out of nowhere and snapped it up.

Emma's eyes widen in disbelief as she followed the movement of the text into the shopping basket at the brunette's feet, and then upwards as she adjusted the basket in her hands and repositioned the cell pressed up against her ear.

"No, like I already told you, I talked to all my professors last week about my circumstances and missing the first week of classes," the other girl was saying into the phone. "I've arranged for this final year to be a light one, and I'm getting credit for the work I did at the firm. I'm about to buy my last textbook." She was silent for a minute listening as Emma stared at her, her eyes narrowing at the person she didn't know who still hadn't looked away. "Yes, the social science requirement so I can actually graduate. Listen, I'm going to have to call you back." She waited for a moment and then hung up the phone, slowly raising a single eyebrow.   "Can I help you?"

Emma gaped at her. She didn't look like a student at all – while a lot of her classmates were still trying to dress to impress, it was still mostly limited to stylish jeans and nicer shirts. She looked like she was going to a business meeting:impeccably styled hair and make-up that drew attention to all the right places - and Emma found her gaze lingering on her painted lips.  When she was able to tear her eyes away from them (licking her own lips in the process), Emma looked down at her own threadbare tank top in contrast. "Hey!" she finally managed to say, remembering the origin of her (almost now forgotten) outrage. "I was about to buy that."

"Well maybe next time instead of glaring at it, you'll pick it up," she said airily before turning away and starting to walk to the cashier line.

"Wait!" Emma cried, running after her. "It's the last one and I'm already behind on my reading, Dr. Hopper is going to kill me. Please let me have that book."

Her lips pursed as she scanned Emma's body, no doubt taking in the hair that she hadn't washed for days because she's being sparing on shampoo, or the fraying straps of her backpack. "If I'm just buying the text now, it would follow that I'm in the same class, and am also behind in my reading. Tell me, what makes you think that your education is worth more than mine?"

Emma opened her mouth but no words came out, and the other student easily stepped around her, taking her place in line. Emma groaned and followed her anyway. "That's not what I meant," she huffed. "Look, maybe we could share it or something until the next order comes in?" She reached into her bag and grabbed her wallet, pulling the remainder of her crumpled bills out and holding them out to her. "Please?"

The other woman's face inexplicably softened for just a moment before a mask of neutrality slid into place. "There's no need for that Miss..."

Emma almost rolled her eyes, but managed to pull it back at the last minute. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to annoy the person that she was trying to get on the good side of. "Swan. Emma Swan."

The woman studied her for another moment silently, as if trying to make a decision. "Fine then, Miss Swan. Give me your email, I'll send you a list of times that I will be studying other subjects in the library. I'll bring the textbook. You can use it – at the same table, without marking it in any way, while I am there. But I require something in return."

"Uh, yeah, sure, I mean, I don't have much money but..." she trailed off, once again looking at the full basket of new textbooks and impeccably dressed other woman and wondering what she could possibly want from her.

The other woman sighed. " _No,_ Miss Swan. I've missed a week's worth of classes already and my attendance may be sporadic, at times. I need someone's notes, and since it appears that we share the same professor..."

"Oh! Yeah, sure! I have them right here you can get started –" she put the money and her wallet away and pulled the sheets of crumpled loose-leaf out of her bag, glancing down at her cramped handwriting. "You know what? I'll type them out and email them to you."

The older student looked relieved, and Emma carefully wrote out her new student email address on an edge of the paper that she ripped off. They were almost at the counter now, and Emma felt hesitant to leave. "I've got some time before work; I'll type them out right now and send them to you as soon as I get your schedule, okay?"

The other student barely nodded as she turned to unload her basket and Emma sighed. Of course she would be sharing a textbook with the most difficult person in her class.  Also possibly the most beautiful, but that wasn't a thought she could dwell on; yet, maybe waiting for the reprint wouldn't be so bad.

She was already in the computer lab typing up the notes when she realized she didn't even know the other student's name.  It was okay, Emma decided.  She'd find her again; she already had those lips committed to memory.


End file.
